Five years after a stranger tracked philanthropist Glen Davis to a North Toronto parking garage and shot him in the heart, the fourth and final man accused of plotting the murder was convicted in a downtown courthouse Thursday.

After deliberating for three days, the Superior Court jury found Dmitri Kossyrine, portrayed as a “middleman” in the fire-for-hire scheme, guilty of first-degree murder. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison.

Kossyrine, 34, was one of four men accused in the plot against Mr. Davis, the wealthy son of trucking magnate Nelson M. Davis and one of Canada’s principal benefactors of environmental work. The victim’s cousin, Marshall Ross — saddled with debt — masterminded the hit on May 18, 2007.

That day, Mr. Davis had lunch with a World Wildlife Fund contact at the Granite Brewery in North Toronto. Upon returning to an underground parking garage, he was approached by contract killer Ivgeny Vorobiov and shot twice: once in the back and once in the heart.

Vorobiov ignored the 66-year-old’s pleas for his life, the court heard, then hopped into a car driven by his associate, Jesse Smith, and sped off to a Port Perry casino. Along the way, they ditched the gun and a piece of Mr. Davis’ identification.

The motive was money.

Ross, who viewed Mr. Davis as an uncle, borrowed money from him for a real estate venture, but by late 2005 had accrued millions of dollars in debt. By virtue of his close relationship with Mr. Davis, Ross believed he would benefit from his cousin’s will — or at least be spared from repaying the debt in the event Mr. Davis died. (Neither scenario proved accurate: After the murder, Ross discovered he would receive nothing from the estate and was still expected to repay the loan.)

In his hunt for a hired gun, Ross raised the topic with Kossyrine and Smith, but eventually found his shooter in Vorobiov. The Crown accused Kossyrine of helping to arrange the hit.

According to a statement of facts, Ross said “he would like the murder of his uncle to look like an accident, but if not, it did not matter.”

Years earlier, Ross had arranged an attempt on his cousin’s life by sending two men with baseball bats to attack him, but Mr. Davis survived.

All four men in the murder plot have now been convicted. Smith pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and served five years, while Ross pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and is serving a life sentence. Vorobiov was convicted of first-degree murder last year at a joint trial with Kossyrine, whose case initially ended in a hung jury.

“What could be more repugnant than murdering someone to avoid a civil responsibility such as adhering to the terms of a contract?” Judge Lederer asked in his 11-page decision.

The dispute dates back to 2004, when Rosshire, a company solely owned by Ross, entered into a loan agreement with N.M. Davis Corporation Ltd., of which Mr. Davis was the principal. The purpose was to finance Rosshire’s purchase and renovation of Toronto-area properties, the court heard.

“Marshall Ross did not comply with the agreement,” Judge Lederer wrote. “He used the funds advanced to make investments outside Ontario and outside Canada and to maintain his lifestyle and that of his family.”

On several occasions, Ross presented Mr. Davis with falsified financial documents that projected revenues for Rosshire while the business was failing, the judge noted.

“To overcome the problems associated with the debt, Marshall Ross arranged for the murder of Glen Davis,” he wrote.

As of December 2008, the balance of the loan stood at just under $2.7-million — a fact admitted by Ross when he pleaded guilty to his cousin’s murder — but with accrued interest, the total amount awarded was about $3.3-million.

Whether Ross had any means of paying this was unclear; he did not have counsel, and Junior Sirivar, the lawyer for N.M. Davis Corp., did not respond to a request for comment.

N.M. Davis Corp. had also requested punitive damages of $1-million on the basis that the murder, undertaken to avoid a debt, was “oppressive and high-handed” and removed the “guiding hand” of Mr. Davis from the plaintiff. But Judge Lederer rejected that request, saying punishment for the murder came through the criminal justice system.

Mr. Davis, 66, a major supporter of environmental causes, was gunned down in May 2007 after finishing lunch with a World Wildlife Fund contact in north Toronto. Jesse Smith, who drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact, while Ross pleaded guilty to plotting the murder.

The strange saga of murdered philanthropist Glen Davis moved closer to its conclusion Tuesday, as shooter Ivgeny Vorobiov was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

But after four days of deliberations capping off a two-month trial, the jury remained deadlocked on the culpability of a second accused, forcing Justice Ian Nordheimer to declare a mistrial for alleged plotter Dmitri Kossyrine.

“Glen never knew, never suspected who was behind it, and he was struck down very tragically,” Peter Quinn, a close family friend, said outside court. “We’re disappointed that this isn’t over but we’re glad for the progress that’s been made so far… It’s a long ordeal [and] we wish it was over.”

Mr. Davis, a wealthy environmental philanthropist, was gunned down around midday in the spring of 2007, shortly after finishing lunch with a World Wildlife Fund contact at the Granite Brewery in north Toronto. The 66-year-old was returning to his vehicle in an adjacent parking garage when Vorobiov, described by the Crown a “contract killer,” shot him once in the back and once in the heart before fleeing with getaway driver Jesse Smith.

The court heard that Marshall Ross, the victim’s cousin and godson, masterminded the slaying in pursuit of an inheritance payout that never came; after pleading guilty in October, Ross was sentenced to life in prison, with no chance of parole for 25 years.

The roots of the crime can be traced back to the years between 2004 and 2007, when Mr. Davis lent Ross close to $3-million for a home-renovation business. When the venture failed and Ross realized he could not repay the loan, he cooked up falsified financial documents to dupe his millionaire cousin and ultimately arranged the hit, the court heard.

The jury rejected the defence position that Vorobiov, who was hired to fire the fatal bullet, had a last-minute change of heart and Smith carried out the shooting instead.

Jurors clearly had more difficulty grappling with the case against Mr. Kossyrine, after defence lawyer Laurence Cohen highlighted a dearth of evidence against his client beyond the testimony of Smith, a key Crown witness. The Crown painted Mr. Kossyrine as a high-level plotter, but Mr. Cohen suggested Smith — who was initially charged with first-degree murder in the incident but later pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact — concocted testimony against his client while wrangling a plea deal.

“We’re disappointed that there wasn’t an acquittal. We were confident in our defence,” Mr. Cohen said outside court, noting his client had not yet decided whether to reapply for bail as he awaits a possible new trial. “My instructions are to fight until Mr. Kossyrine is reunited with his wife and children… We’re confident that if there is another trial, we’ll mount another very strong defence.”

Tuesday marked another grim milestone in the Davis saga: six years earlier, Mr. Davis was attacked by two men with baseball bats in a previous attempt on his life, also masterminded by Ross. A roofer who participated in that plot ultimately helped police crack the 2007 shooting.

Mr. Davis, who inherited his fortune from his father, trucking magnate Nelson M. Davis, was one of the principal funders of environmental work in Canada, and Mr. Quinn lamented his death as a “huge loss” to the community.

“This verdict in relation to Ivgeny Vorobiov does not bring Glen Davis back to his family, his friends and his many endeavours,” Toronto Police Detective Sergeant Peter Moreira said outside court. “There is nothing positive about this except there is some accountability.”

With respect to Mr. Kossyrine, who returns to court Jan. 18, Det. Sgt. Moreira said police will work “closely and diligently” with the Crown to see that prosecution through.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/one-found-guilty-in-glen-davis-murder-mistrial-declared-for-second-accused/feed4stdGlen DavisGlen Davis murder plot was in the works for a ‘considerable period of time,’ Crown attorney says in closing argumenthttp://news.nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/glen-davis-murder-plot-was-in-the-works-for-a-considerable-period-of-time-crown-attorney-says-in-closing-argument
http://news.nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/glen-davis-murder-plot-was-in-the-works-for-a-considerable-period-of-time-crown-attorney-says-in-closing-argument#commentsFri, 16 Dec 2011 00:26:14 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=120034

By Megan O’Toole

More than four years ago, after finishing up a lunchtime dessert at the Granite Brewery in north Toronto, millionaire philanthropist Glen Davis returned to an underground parking garage and was shot twice, once in the back and once in the heart.

On Thursday, a Superior Court jury began hearing final arguments in the trial of Ivgeny (Eugene) Vorobiov and Dmitri Kossyrine, who both stand charged with first-degree murder in the 2007 slaying. The victim’s cousin, Marshall Ross, allegedly masterminded the hit in pursuit of an inheritance payout.

The Crown, which will complete its closing address Friday, described the crime as a calculated “fire for hire,” alleging Mr. Kossyrine helped to plot the crime while Mr. Vorobiov pulled the trigger.

“One moment Glen Davis was alive, the next he was dead,” Crown attorney Hank Goody told the jury. “The death of Glen Davis had been in the works for a very considerable period of time.”

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The Crown was unforgiving on the credibility of Mr. Vorobiov’s testimony at trial, calling it “rife with implausibility and virtual impossibility.”

The defence theory is that minutes before the shooting, Mr. Vorobiov had a last-minute change of heart, and his associate, Jesse Smith, carried out the hit instead. Smith, who was initially charged with first-degree murder, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and subsequently testified against Mr. Vorobiov.

Mr. Goody cited a host of problems with the defence theory, including the fact that the victim’s time of death was estimated to be 1:53 p.m. and Mr. Vorobiov was caught on a surveillance camera leaving the Eglinton Avenue garage two minutes later, while Smith was nowhere to be seen.

Lawyer Liam O’Connor said Smith had used a camera-free back door to enter and exit the garage.

Mr. O’Connor likened Smith’s situation to “getting away with murder,” suggesting Smith was the only person who changed his clothes immediately after the murder, and the only one who ultimately received a payout from Ross.

“I’m asking not to let Jesse Smith fool us twice,” he told the jury.

The Crown has yet to deliver its portion of closing arguments pertaining to Mr. Kossyrine, but lawyer Laurence Cohen said the prosecution was “not even close” to proving his client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Beyond the testimony of Smith, who said Mr. Kossyrine invited him on several occasions to be the hitman, there was no evidence Mr. Kossyrine had anything to do with the murder plot, Mr. Cohen said.

“Dmitri Kossyrine was the ticket to freedom for Jesse Smith,” Mr. Cohen noted, suggesting Smith concocted evidence against Mr. Kossyrine in order to support a police theory and cement his own plea deal.

After the murder, the court heard, Smith fled to Cuba but Mr. Kossyrine — alone of the three alleged co-conspirators — urged him to return to Canada. Mr. Kossyrine, who was like a “big brother” to Smith, would not have done so if he was worried about getting caught, his lawyer said.

“He wants him back because he had nothing to do with the plan and nothing to do with the killing of Glen Davis,” Mr. Cohen said.

Once the Crown concludes its closing address Friday, the judge will charge the 12-member jury before sending them off to deliberate over the weekend.

The evidence against two men accused of killing millionaire philanthropist Glen Davis is sorely lacking, and both must be acquitted, a Superior Court jury heard Thursday.

The defence positions with respect to the 2007 shooting were crystallized as each lawyer delivered closing arguments, a day before the judge was expected to issue his final charge to the jury. Ivgeny (Eugene) Vorobiov and Dmitri Kossyrine are both accused of first-degree murder in a crime allegedly masterminded by the victim’s cousin, Marshall Ross, in pursuit of an inheritance payout.

Mr. O’Connor instead pointed the finger at key Crown witness Jesse Smith, who had accompanied Mr. Vorobiov to the murder site, an underground parking garage on Eglinton Avenue. Smith, who told police Mr. Vorobiov fired the fatal bullet, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact.

Mr. O’Connor likened Smith’s situation to “getting away with murder.”

“I’m asking not to let Jesse Smith fool us twice,” he told the jury.

Lawyer Laurence Cohen, who represents Mr. Kossyrine, said the Crown was “not even close” to proving his client guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

While the Crown portrayed Mr. Kossyrine as a high-level plotter, Mr. Cohen cited no evidence of his client’s involvement beyond the testimony of Smith, who said Mr. Kossyrine invited him to be the hitman.

The jury should reject that testimony, Mr. Cohen said, suggesting Smith concocted evidence against his client in order to support a police theory and cement his own plea deal.

“Dmitri Kossyrine was the ticket to freedom for Jesse Smith,” Mr. Cohen noted.

The lawyer for a man accused of fatally shooting millionaire philanthropist Glen Davis turned the tables on a key Crown witness Thursday, suggesting Jesse Smith, and not his client, may have pulled the trigger.

Smith, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in the 2007 slaying, is now testifying against two former business associates, Ivgeny (Eugene) Vorobiov and Dmitri Kossyrine, who both stand charged with first-degree murder. The Crown’s theory is that the victim’s cousin, Marshall Ross, masterminded the crime in pursuit of an inheritance payout and convinced Mr. Vorobiov to pull the trigger. Smith allegedly drove the getaway car.

Lawyer Liam O’Connor, who represents Mr. Vorobiov, painted a very different picture, hinting Smith may have been the real gunman.

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“You’re the only one who… had to change clothes that night,” Mr. O’Connor contended.

“No sir,” Smith responded, though he acknowledged he did change clothes after leaving the underground parking garage on Eglinton Avenue where Mr. Davis was shot. Smith said Mr. Vorobiov also changed clothes, but could not recall details.

Smith had a clear motive for wanting Mr. Davis dead, Mr. O’Connor theorized. The victim, some of whose money was tied up in business dealings with Ross, had recently discovered his cousin was “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Both Ross and Smith, who were trying to develop land in Cuba, needed Mr. Davis out of the picture to ensure he did not interfere in their future financial plans, Mr. O’Connor alleged.

“This was the reason you needed Glen Davis killed so badly,” he told Smith, who is expected to be freed from prison within weeks.

Smith rejected the theory, maintaining he did not know the specifics or the date of Mr. Davis’s death in advance.

Earlier Thursday, lawyer Laurence Cohen, who represents Mr. Kossyrine, suggested Smith concocted evidence against his client in order to support a police theory and get a better deal for himself.

Smith has told the court Mr. Kossyrine asked him several times to kill Mr. Davis, although in an initial interview with police, he played down Mr. Kossyrine’s involvement. Mr. Cohen suggested Smith later changed his story in a bid for leniency.

“In order to save your family, you have to save Jesse Smith… In order to get out of this, you have to say Dmitri is involved,” Mr. Cohen suggested.

Smith disagreed with Mr. Cohen’s characterization, saying his first interview with police was replete with “lies.”

Smith, who was arrested in 2009, spent about a year in prison before giving a second statement to police, including more specific details about Mr. Kossyrine’s involvement. During that year, staring down the barrel of a first-degree murder charge and potentially a life in prison, Smith’s reality sunk in, Mr. Cohen said.

“You would do anything to get out of that predicament,” he said.

“Yes,” Smith agreed.

As a result, Mr. Cohen suggested, Smith told officers what they wanted to hear to ensure a more favourable outcome in his own case, and “it worked like a charm.”

Just hours after shooting millionaire philanthropist Glen Davis in an underground parking garage four years ago, Ivgeny Vorobiov dashed off to a Port Perry casino for a few hands of blackjack, a Toronto court heard Wednesday.

In a calm monotone, Crown witness Jesse Smith described Mr. Vorobiov as a hired gun for mastermind Marshall Ross, the victim’s cousin, who feared Mr. Davis would “blow his family fortune” and was angling for a hefty inheritance.

Smith, who pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact, was testifying at the joint first-degree murder trial of two former business associates, Mr. Vorobiov and Dmitri Kossyrine. Both Ross and Mr. Kossyrine approached Smith on multiple occasions to request a hit on the 66-year-old philanthropist, offering a $100,000 payout, the court heard.

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“I said, ‘it’s not Mexico, you can’t just kill somebody and get away with it here’… I wasn’t going to do it, but I didn’t really care if someone else did,” Smith testified.

About a week before the May 2007 murder, Smith told the jury, he met with Ross and Mr. Vorobiov in a Home Depot parking lot, where the topic of killing Mr. Davis arose again. Ross appeared “agitated,” Smith said, and at one point exploded: “If you’re not going to do it, get me the f—–g gun and I’ll kill him.”

Smith said he briefly contemplated the idea of killing Mr. Davis, but decided against it because he did not want to go to prison.

“Did you consider the morality of killing him, or the ethics?” Crown attorney Bev Richards asked.

“No,” Smith replied.

Smith, who worked on construction sites with the accused, said he accompanied Mr. Vorobiov to a parking garage on the day of the murder for an unspecified “meeting.” Smith waited in the car for about an hour, and when Mr. Vorobiov returned, “he was shaking, breathing heavily. I asked him what happened and he said, ‘just drive.’”

Smith lit two cigarettes and handed one to his associate before heading onto Highway 401, the court heard, and as they pulled onto a highway ramp Mr. Vorobiov allegedly announced: “I killed him… He begged for his life, said ‘please don’t kill me.’”

The pair continued on to Port Perry, tossing the gun into a body of water near the road’s edge, Smith testified. They later stopped at a variety store to buy a pair of scissors; Mr. Vorobiov “cut up [the victim’s] IDs and threw them out the window.” Once in Port Perry, they gambled at a local casino and had dinner at Crabby Joe’s, Smith said.

The very next day, Smith flew to Cuba, afraid of the potential consequences if he remained in Canada.

“I was scared of being arrested [for] being involved in a murder,” he told the court.

Smith said he remained in contact with the accused while in Cuba, and eventually decided to return to Canada to “test the waters.” After successfully making the trip, Smith began travelling more frequently between the two countries, looking into potential business opportunities in Cuba while also working to get his wife permanent resident status in Canada.

Glen White Davis, a prominent wildlife philanthropist, showed boundless trust and generosity to his godson. His godson repaid him by having him killed.

Between 2004 and 2007, Mr. Davis lent close to $3-million from his sizeable fortune to Marshall Ross, his godson — also his first cousin, once removed — to help the younger man finance a home-renovation business in Toronto. Mr. Davis also frequently gave Ross business advice and never questioned Ross’s decisions.

“Glen Davis trusted Marshall Ross implicitly,” according to a statement read in court.

In return, court heard this week, Ross, 41, lied repeatedly to Mr. Davis, cooked up falsified spreadsheets, invented addresses of buildings in which he pretended to be investing and, when he realized he could not repay Mr. Davis, arranged to have him killed.

On Wednesday, Ross pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the Ontario Superior Court in Toronto. Judge Ian Nordheimer sentenced him to life in prison without possibility of parole for 25 years. On Thursday, the judge lifted a publication ban on the proceedings.

Ross’s surprise guilty plea, just before his trial was to start, came as Crown attorney Hank Goody read the court an 86-page agreed statement of facts, describing how Ross plotted the murder of his benefactor, not once, but twice, using associates he met in the renovation business.

In 2005, Ross arranged the first attempt on Mr. Davis’s life; two men attacked him outside his business, near Bayview Avenue and York Mills Road, with a baseball bat, one morning as Mr. Davis went to work. “He required numerous stitches and staples to close his wounds and surgery to implant a metal plate into his left elbow and forearm.”

A roofer named Tyler Crawley has admitted that he received $20,000 from Ross for that attack, a fraction of the agreed price of $100,000, because Mr. Davis did not die.

After the baseball-bat attack, Ross continued to borrow heavily from Mr. Davis, and because of, “his unawareness of why he had been attacked in December of 2004, Glen Davis maintained his complete trust in Mr. Ross.”

But because the debts were growing with no hope of repayment, “Mr. Ross decided to have Glen Davis killed.”

In May of 2007, Mr. Davis had just finished lunch at the Granite Brewery, at Mount Pleasant and Eglinton avenues, with a contact at the World Wildlife Fund, to which he was a generous contributor. He was in a parking garage when a hit man shot him twice with a 9mm pistol. He died on the scene. He was 66.

Ross, who was at his cottage in Muskoka on the day of the murder, carefully covered up his true nature, delivering a eulogy at Mr. Davis’s funeral, and continued to occupy a rent-free office at Mr. Davis’s company for more than two years after his death.

In November of 2007, Ross travelled to Cuba to scout land for investment (with Mr. Davis’s money) and met with Jesse Smith, who has since pleaded guilty to driving the getaway car. Smith had at that time fled to Cuba to avoid arrest.

“Mr. Smith has testified that Mr. Ross assured him everyone was in the clear and told him that the hardest part of the entire situation was that he had to give a eulogy at his uncle’s funeral,” according to the statement of facts.

Jury selection is set for next week in the trials of Dmitri Kossyrine and Ivgeny Vorobiov, both charged with first-degree murder in the killing. The court heard that both were men Ross met in the renovation business, when they worked on a garage on the Bridle Path.

In the end it was after his arrest on unrelated charges that Crawley, the roofer, helped police make arrests in Mr. Davis’s murder.

Ross had misled police and lied repeatedly for several years, but in the end, after police secretly placed recording equipment in his car, tapped his telephone calls and wore hidden recording equipment when talking to him and others, they were able to pinch him.

Mr. Davis had cheated death in the past. On June 2, 1983, he was one of just 18 survivors when a fire broke out in the bathroom of an Air Canada jet, forcing an emergency landing at Greater Cincinnati Airport. Some friends said that narrow escape inspired Mr. Davis to change direction: from simply managing the fortune left to him by his father, trucking magnate Nelson M. Davis, a one-time chairman of Toronto-based holding company Argus Corporation, to donating to charity.

Mr. Davis became the country’s most generous wilderness philanthropist, giving generously to the World Wildlife Fund and the Sierra Club.

Glen Davis and Marshall Ross were first cousins, once removed, but everyone always said their close relationship made them seem more like uncle and nephew.

Yesterday, however, a Superior Court judge heard grisly allegations of how an increasingly agitated Mr. Ross — saddled with debt and hoping to wrest control of his cousin’s company — arranged to have the millionaire gunned down in cold blood inside an underground parking lot more than three years ago.

It was a far cry from Mr. Davis’ life as a full-time philanthropist, donating the money he inherited from his father to environmental groups, including the World Wildlife Fund of Canada. Mr. Davis’ father, Nelson M. Davis, was a one-time chairman of Toronto-based holding company Argus Corporation and left his own multi-million-dollar trucking and transportation business, N. M. Davis Corp. Ltd, to his son.

Jesse Smith, who unwittingly drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty yesterday to being an accessory after the fact, and received five years for his role in a slaying that shocked the city. In explaining Smith’s role in the crime, the prosecution laid bare its disturbing case against the three men charged with murdering Mr. Davis.

The court heard how a business associate of Mr. Ross, Ivgeny Vorobiov, allegedly tracked Mr. Davis to a parking garage on Eglinton Avenue and shot him in the back with a silenced gun, ignoring the 66-year-old’s pleas for his life.

The statement of facts paints the most clear picture to date of what allegedly motivated Mr. Ross, who had borrowed money from Mr. Davis for a real-estate venture. But the business failed to prosper, with debts exceeding the $2-million mark by November 2005.

Mr. Ross had reason to believe that, based on his close personal relationship with Mr. Davis, he would be listed as a beneficiary in the latter’s will — or at least have his debt forgiven in the event Mr. Davis died. As it turned out, neither belief was accurate; Mr. Ross received nothing from the estate and was still expected to repay his loan. Evidence suggests Mr. Ross may have resented the amount of money his philanthropist cousin gave to charity.

The slaying allegedly came after months of plotting by Mr. Ross, who was said to have been on the hunt for someone to kill his uncle for $100,000. Smith said the subject was raised with him by Dmitri Kossyrine, a business associate of Mr. Ross, multiple times, and later by Mr. Ross himself.

“Mr. Ross told him that, if possible, he would like the murder of his uncle to look like an accident, but if not, it did not matter,” the statement of facts reads.

But Smith had no intention of accepting the proposal. At a later meeting between the two and Mr. Vorobiov, Mr. Ross appeared agitated, the court heard, and declared to Mr. Vorobiov: “If you are not going to do it, get me a f—ing gun and I will kill my uncle.”

The court heard how the slaying was enacted with brutal efficiency by Mr. Vorobiov, who asked Smith to accompany him to a meeting on May 18, 2007. They ended up at the Eglinton parking garage, which Mr. Vorobiov entered alone.

When he re-entered the car driven by Smith, Mr. Vorobiov was “shaking and breathing heavily,” the statement of facts says. Smith said he had no knowledge of the crime until after the fact. En route to a Port Perry casino, the court heard, Mr.

Vorobiov disposed of the gun, the clothes he had worn and a piece of identification he had taken from Mr. Davis.

Shortly after the slaying, Smith went to Cuba to be with his family. He was apprehended on a trip back to Toronto in 2009, not long after police arrested Mr. Ross, Mr. Vorobiov and Mr. Kossyrine.

With pretrial custody taken into account, Smith has a year and eight months left to serve, while the three men charged in Mr. Davis’s murder are scheduled to go to trial next September.